Condominiums
by Densetsu-no-Maguro
Summary: "Apartments sound like a distance. Condominiums sound like we're connected." evillious!fic, neyette
1. Prologue

_**Condominiums**_

_a Ney Marlon and a Chartette Langley fanfiction._

* * *

_Prologue: Hi there! Dinner?_

* * *

_March 12._

_Ney Marlon sleepily looked at her digital calendar, not moving a single inch from her queen-sized bed full of pillows and blankets. One move, and her euphoric state of laziness would be disrupted. One word, and it'll get her awake. One tilt of her head would make her disoriented as the darkness streamed into her luxuriously expensive penthouse._

_Her long blonde hair streamed on the bed, as if she was a fictional princess._

_Princess? Bah. Ney could almost laugh, but laughing would make her properly awake. She didn't want to be awake just yet._

_March 12. That's when the new neighbor is moving in._

_"...Yaaaay," she sleepily groaned, raising a lazy arm. "Party for the new neighbor."_

_Confetti. Cake. Streamers. The new lift card. The new car park card. The brand new utility deposit. The two months advance rent. The car sticker. It's the ultimate package for the new neighbor, if you'd exclude housewarming gifts. Technically, the neighbor would have to pay for everything except the confetti, cake and streamers, but if she were to celebrate moving in alone, then she would have to buy them too._

_Maybe it is time to get out of bed._

_...But she feels so lazy._

_Drop from bed then. There's a fur carpet below._

_...But she's a Marlon. Marlons don't do undignified things._

_..._

_...Might as well get out of bed._

_Piles of work were stacked up on her teak desk, in addition to the strewn pens and staplers that she had bought a week ago. Everything was not in order at the moment. Nothing was in order. Ney got up, scratched her head as she went up to her fridge, opened it and..._

_Blueberry yogurt. Milk. Chocolate. Chocolate syrup. Eggs. Vegetables. Frozen food. Leftover lunch. Leftover dinner. Half-eaten pizza._

_"...It's empty," she groaned._

_Fucking empty. Empty for her, not empty for others._

_So she has to go and get the groceries soon. Fair enough. She needed to walk anyways, and she really needed the exercise. It's her off day, so why shouldn't she do something? At least something._

_First off, groceries._

_She tied her hair at a side ponytail; her default hairstyle. She wore her stockings, her skirt, her collared shirt, her coat, and done. Took her keys, took her cards, took her bag and looked at herself in the mirror one last time._

_...Why was it so fucking dark outside? What time did she wake up? _

_A knock on the door._

_Ah, that's great. She needed to get the door anyways. Ney opened the door, only to be greeted with exactly what she had lazily imagined as soon as she woke up. Confetti. Cake. Streamers. The new lift card. The new car park card. The brand new utility deposit. The two months advance rent. The car sticker._

_The new neighbor with the twin drills, smiling and giggling in front of her like a girl scout selling cookies._

_"Hi there, new neighbor! Dinner?~"_

_...Well, crap._

_It was 8 pm._

* * *

** A/N:** This is a multi-chaptered fanfiction based on the Evillious Chronicles by mothy. Ney Marlon is played by Neru Akita and Chartette Langley is played by Teto Kasane. Thank you for reading this prologue! I'll post more chapters later!


	2. Pass-codes

_"Who are you?"_

_Frankly, that was the very first thing that Ney managed to say at the cheery party-girl in front of her. Frankly, it was the only thing that she could say to the new neighbor, or to anyone who does exactly what this bubbly bundle of metaphoric sunshine did. Frankly, Ney wished that she wasn't brought up to be so wonderfully tolerant and that she could could slam the door in her face._

_"Oh, me?" the redhead giggled, managing to point at herself despite the incredulous load she was carrying. "I'm Chartette Langley! I thought that I should say hi to my new neighbors, and you're the only one in!"_

The only one in_. Was that a privilege, or the evening's misfortune?_

_"Nice to meet you," was Ney's nonchalant, standardized, monotonous answer. "Welcome to the Atria Suites then."_

_"Thank you! Your name please?~"_

_Oh joy. Chartette's eyes were practically blinking every second in anticipation._

_"Ney Marlon. You can call me-"_

_"Ney! That's such a cool name! You're the daughter of the Marlon Corp. CEO, right? Right? Oh my gosh, you're staying here! And I'm your neighbor! And we're neighbors! And-"_

Oh dear god.

* * *

_**Condominiums**_

_a Ney Marlon and a Chartette Langley fanfiction._

* * *

_1: Pass-codes_

* * *

**_"Simple. Don't talk to me."_**  
_Ney Marlon, 24, Vice President of Marlon Corp.  
INTRODUCTION #1_

That was what happened approximately a day ago.

It was a wonder that Ney managed to survive a shopping trip with Chartette constantly prattling on and asking her questions. The only facts that Chartette Langley could get from Ney Marlon were the facts that Ney hated romance novels (much to the girl's horror), Ney hadn't cut her hair since she was 11, and from observation, Ney didn't know how to pick fresh vegetables. Ney was the type of person who would go to the organic section of the supermarket and toss in random packets of organic spinach, organic tomatoes, organic capsicums and any other wrapped packet of vegetables that had the word _organic_ on it.

At that point, Chartette really wished that she could do at least an adequate Sherlock scan, just like Sherlock Holmes always does in the books. The only word that popped up in Chartette's vocabulary-enriched mind was 'anti-social' regarding her new neighbor, and their brief meeting abruptly ended with Chartette following Ney back up to her suite, and with Ney shutting the door in her face without even a word of thanks.

But that was what compelled Chartette to knock on her door the very next morning at 7 am, when most people would go to work, or be at work already.

"Go away," replied the owner of the suite.

"Are you going for work?" Chartette asked, still being cheery as ever.

"No."

"No?"

The door finally opened, revealing Ney's ever sharp-looking yet uninterested expression. "No."

"Oh! So, um...are you free?" Chartette smiled, pushing her luck. "I mean, I know we went to the supermarket yesterday, but we can always go somewhere else to hang out-"

"Why are you so insistent?" Ney asked, still not moving from her position behind the door. "Tell me this, _why are you so insistent?_"

Why was she so insistent? She didn't know. Maybe it was because Ney was an interesting person? That's most probably it, maybe. Ney was an interesting person, even if she had only met her for a day. Even if she had just met her last night.

"Because I wanna be friends! Can we be friends?"

The answer was a slam of the door in Chartette's face again.

* * *

_**"An open book."**_  
_Chartette Langley, 32, Langley Bookstore Owner._  
_INTRODUCTION #2_

Well, it seemed that Ney Marlon wasn't a very approachable person. Even Chartette was having quite a challenge, and it had only been two days.

Apparently, Ney Marlon does not have Twitter. She does not have Facebook, nor Instagram (but seriously, can anyone imagine Ney Marlon with _Instagram_?), or maybe it's the fact that Chartette just doesn't know her accounts. At the least, Ney should have WhatsApp or Line, but there was one thing that always came first.

How the hell can she get her accounts? Chartette can't speak to a closed, solid, rigid door.

The only things that were known to Ney about Chartette was the fact that she was like an open book. A book that was way too eager to be read by others. Rays of metaphorical sunshine. Imaginary flowers everywhere. Some funny story about knights and princesses would spill out from that prattling mouth, and Ney would never even pay it any heed. Why would she, anyways?

Unbeknownst to Chartette, Ney actually found this very new, weird and annoying.

So came day 2 of_ 'earning Ney Marlon's friendship.'_ Chartette curled her hair, set them in place, reloaded some paper on the oh-so-trusty typewriter and headed out. Pin codes and passwords were so useful at this time of age, yet it also meant that people couldn't tell whether someone was home or not. In the Atria Suites, no one actually leaves their shoes outside their door, so it posed as a problem to friendly neighbors wanting to come over.

It's only day 2. Pathetic. But Chartette didn't lose heart. She raised a finger, puffed out her cheeks and pressed the doorbell for more initiative.

"Go away," replied the owner of the suite. Deja vu.

"Aren't you going to work today, Ney?"

"I'm thinking of a new pass-code."

"Can I help?" Chartette asked enthusiastically, wishing that this was the open window to potential conversations.

"Of course not. You'll know my pass-code, idiot. I'd be an idiot too if I were to let you help me make one."

Three lines! A stellar improvement! However, it did put a frown on Chartette's face.

"An _idiot_! That's not very nice!" the redhead exclaimed.

"And I'm not a very nice person," came the reply.

"Can't you open the door?"

"Don't want to."

"Why not?"

"I just don't want to."

"Please?"

"No."

"I can give you hints on your new pass-code!"

"No thank you."

Silence. Chartette was out of options. Breaking down the door would be very rude, especially when she was capable of doing such a thing. It would even lose further potential chances of Ney ever talking to her, but how could she keep up a positive conversation with Ney when Ney was being like...

"...Come back later," Ney said from behind the door.

What?

"...Eh?" the redhead said.

"Mm."

_Come back later._ That was the very phrase that made up Chartette's mind. No one's entirely unapproachable after all! It just took a little persuasion, and if Ney told her to come back later, then she would! Maybe one more try at mundane conversation would do?

"When's your birthday?" Chartette instantly asked, overly excited at the fact that she was given at least a hinted chance.

"November 1. Come back later," came the staunch reply.

"Cool! Mine's at April 1! I don't look like it, but I'm 32, by the way! We're both born on the first day of the month-"

"_Come. Back. Later._"

* * *

A black Belstaff Millford coat. That was what Ney wore almost every day in this cold winter.

Chartette noticed minute details about the person that she was eyeing. A sudden interest, a sudden force of attraction towards this antisocial blonde was all it took for Chartette to doggedly take in details, sneak peeks of her daily life and other nonsense that she could divulge into while she sat on her desk in her bookshop, typing away on her laptop as she looked at her Samsung every 5 minutes.

_Silly me_, she thought to herself. _Ney doesn't even know my number!_

Google. Yahoo. . StartNow. Any search engine that she could type. Her searches mainly consisted of Ney's name as well as the words 'twitter,' 'facebook,' 'myspace,' 'friendster,' 'instagram,' 'tumblr,' and even 'youtube.' What she did get, however, were newspaper excerpts about her running the Marlon Corporation, which was the main trading company for the entire country of Marlon.

There was also a tiny fact in a forum where it was revealed that Ney 'didn't care much for any country's royalty.'

Langley Bookstore was a safe haven for the carefree soul; made by a carefree soul for other carefree souls. Hard-covered books containing information as well as valuable stories adorned the teak bookshelves, carpets blanketed the wooden floors, sofas and beanbags were readily available and the best part: coffee. Iced coffee, hot coffee, cocoa, tea, you name it. Beverages and snacks made the bookstore smell heavenly. The charm, the allure and the innocent homey atmosphere easily attracted customers, to which Chartette was glad for.

So Chartette locked up, drove back home and got off the lift to the 34th floor, she saw Ney keeping her keys in her coat as she prepared to punch in her pass-code before realizing that someone else was there. So Ney stopped, withdrew her finger from the keypad and with a wave of her other hand, she motioned for Chartette to look away.

"Look away," she said, for more comprehension. Chartette did so, looking at the lift doors.

Five digits later, and the door successfully opened, causing the redhead to hear a relieved sigh from the blonde. And right before Ney stepped into her flat, she turned her pretty blonde head around and looked right at Chartette, who now turned back in curiosity.

"...Care to come in?"

A happy smile.

"Of course!"

So ends day 2 of_ 'earning Ney Marlon's friendship.'_

* * *

**_A/N:_ **Ney has an iPhone. Tette has a Samsung.

-Densetsu-no-Maguro.


	3. Media?

_**Condominiums**_

_a Ney Marlon and a Chartette Langley fanfiction._

* * *

_2: Media?_

* * *

**_"Helping others is a free action, but receiving help is another thing."_**  
_Elluka C. Clockworker, 27, Chirclatia Antiques Owner.  
INTRODUCTION #3_

_**"One really should look beyond."**  
Kiril A. Clockworker, 28, singer.  
INTRODUCTION #4_

A happily married woman with a spicy, interesting twist; her sister-in-law is in a mental hospital, and she and her husband, Kiril put her there.

They do visit Irina Clockworker, of course they do, but what eased Elluka Clockworker's guilt was the fact that Irina didn't even mind. Rather, Irina liked the loony bin. Probably because when one's loony, they won't even mind anything else. As Irina always said: _'there are loads of interesting people here, sis. Much more fun than the stuff you have outside.'_

It unnerved Kiril though, but he was trying to get used to it.

With a wonderful business partnership between Clockworker Incorporation and Chirclatia Antiques, there existed another partnership with the means of holy matrimony. With connections going so far as reaching President Held, Elluka had the reputation of being one of the luckiest women in the country of Levianta, only seconded to the Queen of Levianta, Maria MoonLit.

_'And oh Levia, Queen Maria's **hot**,'_ Elluka thought, leafing through a magazine where the Queen's visit to Elphegort was published.

Elluka liked this life. Being ejected from the Levin church actually brought her happiness by giving her the freedom that she craved, but what made her the happiest was the fact that she married the love of her life. Life wasn't too cruel to her, and she had made so many friends. Everyone loved Elluka, and Elluka loved all of them, and that was her happy, perfect life.

...Save for Irina being in the asylum.

Why was Irina always a mood-killer no matter where she is? Then again, that's one of her many vices.

_"Hey! You there?"_ Irina was at the other line, promptly shocking Elluka out from her reverie.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here! Sorry, I uh...spaced out."

_"You're spacing out quite a lot. Anyways, I'm allowed unlimited time to talk to you since I'm in such good behavior, so talk away. What's up?"_

"Huh?! Good behavior? No way!"

_"Yes way. I'm an angel, can't you tell?"_

"Hah, you wish!"

_"Unlimited phone time says it all! I-oops, gotta go. Lunch."_

Elluka almost wanted to yell. "Are you seriously going to choose lunch over me?!"

_"Yup. Hanging up now! Love you!"_

"Wait, I-"

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"...Love you too, sis," she smiled, sighing.

* * *

_**"They're not as you seem they are. Look at me."**  
Irina A. Clockworker, 27, mental patient.  
_**[0]**  
_INTRODUCTION #5_

"I lied for the_ 663rd_ time!" Irina laughed, waving her fork around as she smiled sweetly at Ney, who was sitting right across her during lunch.

Lunches in the asylum tended to be quite interesting or droll, give or take. The pink-haired woman daintily ate her food, humming as she looked over at her Hello Kitty notepad, which had quite a few important things written in it. Due to exemplary good behavior, Irina was given a vast amount of privileges that she had never abused, much to everyone's surprise.

By everyone, it would have to be her family, the asylum caretakers and Ney herself.

"You count how many times you lie?" Ney asked disbelievingly. "Since the day you were born?"

"Excuse you. I'm a very different individual, and you know it," she grinned, raising her fork in the air. "We've been in cahoots for so long, surely you should know me by now, Ney."

Ney merely prodded her spoon on her pudding. "Cahoots is hardly the right word. You're merely an informant."

"Hey, that hurts," Irina pouted. "Don't hurt a Hello Kitty lover's heart!"

"Unhealthy obsession," Ney curtly replied.

"Hey, do you want information or not?" the pink-haired woman gritted her teeth. "Diss Hello Kitty one more time and I won't give you anything."

"Alright, alright. Who caught your eye this time, Irina?"

With a flourish, Irina Clockworker opened up her notebook, then pointed at a name which was written in her neatest (but she could be neater, Ney mused) handwriting. This was, of course, an indication that this person was quite an important one to the both of them, and Ney squinted at it before reading it out.

"Pale Noel," Ney read. "...I'm not surprised. Has the spirit of Heldmas gotten to you?"

"Meta rang you, didn't she?" Irina smirked.

Well, that temporarily took Ney aback. "How did you know?"

"I know, I know. Don't ask me how. They'll revoke my privileges in the asylum if I tell you. Anyways, Meta rang you to tell you about Pale, right?"

Meta Salmhofer most certainly did. It was before Chartette Langley moved into the Atria Suites, inquiring about the whereabouts of her ex-husband. Ney looked at her phone, swiped a bit here and there to check her call history, then nodded.

"I got someone," was all Ney said.

Irina looked up from her food. "...You got someone to help you?"

"Yeah."

"_You_."

"Yeah."

"...You actually have a friend now."

"What-_no_, of course not."

"Oh god. Thank god," Irina said, heaving a sigh of relief. "I can't imagine you being different, Ney."

Ney shrugged. "I guess you're right. I can't imagine me being any different either."

"Back to business," the pink-haired wonder said, finishing her food. "Perfect person for arson, murder and bombings. Pale Noel's your guy if you want lots of things blowing up. And I really think you should look at this." She then turned to the next page of her notebook and pointed at it with a manicured finger.

And right on it was a newspaper clipping stapled on the paper, with the headlines: **'NOEL RELEASED.'**

* * *

**_"My name? Ask my mother. She wanted a girl."_**  
_Genesia Tatou, 32, Finance Minister of Volganio.  
_**[0.99]**  
_INTRODUCTION #6_

**_"Knowing you, asshole, you'd probably do something insane again."_**  
_Presi Rogze, 32, Prime Minister of Lucifenia._  
_INTRODUCTION #7_

"What exactly are we doing in the airport 4 hours before your flight?"

"Seeing me off, of course."

"Don't be daft, Genesia. That's the last thing that I'd want to do."

"But you're doing it right now!" Genesia laughed, drinking his coffee. "Ah, duty free coffee always tastes great."

The Lucifenian International Airport has always been very well known to be the epitome of luxury, yet the prices of the goods sold were surprisingly dirt-cheap. Duty free items were sold in each store, and it even reached to the point where food was also known to be duty-free, as long as it was sold in the airport. Two very important individuals were in the airport, drinking coffee together as they both would get their new political positions the next day.

Genesia did say that he'd be honored to be the Finance Minister of the continent, but in reality, he hated handling money. Presi, on the other hand, wanted Genesia's former position as Prime Minister of Lucifenia, so it sat well with him. What didn't sit well with Presi however, was the fact that Genesia was still above him in something. A country can't very well beat a continent, can it?

Of course not. That was a tragic fact.

"Can I go now?" Presi irritably asked.

"Sure you can. Why ain't you budging?"

"Stop using '_ain't_,' Genesia. It doesn't suit you."

"But I like using it!" Genesia said, surprised. "I just came back from Western Marlon. Of course I'd adapt the funny accent."

Presi almost wanted to bash his head against the table. How the hell did he even put up, or survive arguments with this person? Why, of all people, is Genesia Tatou his hell-bent rival; the person whom he had always wanted to defeat in at least something?

"Oh, speaking of which, while I'm there, I'll write to you," Genesia smiled.

"Write?" Presi asked, arching an eyebrow. "Why the hell would you write to me?"

A cheeky grin. "Sentimentality?"

"As if I'd keep your letters," Presi coughed. "If you want to drop a message, just email me or call me. Use your goddamned WhatsApp, bastard."

A laugh came from the other man, prompting him to look at his phone. Thing is, he only used WhatsApp to speak to the kids, Alexiel and Riliane. And Elluka. And Irina. And Kiril. And a handful of other people who has WhatsApp, except for Presi Rogze.

"Want my Twitter?" Genesia offered.

"Hell no!"

"But that's where I post the most!"

The only response was an audible groan, to which Genesia took a pen from his suitcase, scribbled his username on a piece of tissue and passed it to Presi with a smile. Presi merely eyed it for a second, then visibly twitched after he comprehended it for a split second.

_'hotenchantingrichsexy- twitter.'_

"..."

"...What?" Genesia blinked.

"...You can't be fucking serious. You're going to be the Finance Minister of Volganio, and this is your fucking Twitter username?!" Presi yelled.

"Well, this is the one I use all the time! The girls love it. Hentai accounts follow it, okay?"

"...Just...Just go. Get on the fucking plane."

"We still have 4 hours!"

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE!"

* * *

**Location: East Elphegort.  
Weather: Stormy.**

"Don't call me now, Papa! I'm chasing storms, and if I don't get a good scoop, the documentary channel won't like it!"

_"A-Alright! Be careful!"_

* * *

A/N: i am tired finally i did this chapter i am happy i'VE ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING

-Densetsu-no-Maguro.


	4. Communications

_**Condominiums**_

_a Ney Marlon and a Chartette Langley fanfiction._

* * *

_3: Communications_

* * *

**_"Occupations? Which one?"  
_**_Aiaru TwiRight, 14, occupations vary.  
INTRODUCTION #8_

The storm messed up her hair, but it was part of the job.

It was a wonder that she could get a signal, much less even get her phone to work. Aiaru opened a can of soda and drank it up, then swiped through her phone as she looked through the call history. The name 'Seth TwiRight' popped up quite a number of times, to which she gave a little shrug as she drank even more soda.

This job will be over in half an hour, and she'll have to catch the plane back to Levianta.

Levianta seemed so near, yet so far. Aiaru felt the cool Elphegortian wind as she embraced the beautiful weather; the calm after the storm. Granted, the storm happened somewhere else, and she did go somewhere else, but it was Elphegort nonetheless. It was a beautiful place. To feel something like this was utterly beautiful, and Aiaru relished in every moment of it.

Different jobs, different lives, and Aiaru TwiRight's the lucky girl to experience and do all those jobs. She whipped out her phone and tapped a few messages to her father, asking the usual questions.

'hows mom?'

Ping.

_'she's not your mom, for the last time, dear -Dad'_

'did she appear in the newspaper? i didn't buy one today.'

Ping.

_'maria's on the newspaper. did you call her? -Dad'_

'no, too busy. wanna visit mom.'

Ping.

_'you have time, why don't you? -Dad'_

'too busy to visit anybody'

Ping.

_'don't work too hard, love you. send her a text k? -Dad'_

A pause.

'K. Love you, dad.'

Ping.

_'Love you too, Aiaru.'_

* * *

"We hung out for three days!" Chartette excitedly laughed, clinging onto Ney's arm as if they've been friends for centuries.

"Yes, Miss Langley. Yes we did," Ney said, tone dull.

Papers, papers, lots of papers. Ney's room was full of papers, and Chartette was leafing through them while having her arm around Ney's. They were a mix of company papers, job recommendations and requests for lost and found items. Ney herself was on her laptop, typing with some difficulty due to the pressure that Chartette's lone arm had on her own arm.

"So you're a detective on the side, Ney?" the drill-haired wonder asked, looking at the blonde excitedly. _Excitedly_. That seemed to be the only word that could replace _'cheerily,_' and Ney wondered how to actually extinguish all that excitement and cheer. _It would be a challenge_, she reckoned.

"That's not my line of work, but it's close to what I do," she eventually replied.

"You solve crimes, but you're not a detective?"

"I solve crimes that I _want_ to solve."

"...So you're picky with cases?"

"Yes."

"How many cases do you solve in a day?" Chartette curiously asked.

That certainly got Ney thinking. "...I solved two. That was three months ago. I'm currently working on one right now, and I need you to help me."

It instantly got Chartette's mind whirring. Ney needed her to help? After days of persistence, she finally got to help Ney? Ney was asking her to help? Ney Marlon was asking her, Chartette Langley, to help-

"Miss Langley."

"O-Oh, yes?"

"You do know that you don't have much of a choice backing out on what I want you to do," said the ambiguously apathetic investigator.

"I want to help!" Chartette blurted out. "I really want to help you, Ney! Really! I want to work with you!"

"You do know that it's a long-term partnership."

"Mmhm!"

"And you're perfectly fine with being exposed to danger."

"Yes!"

"Are you trained in martial arts?"

"A little, but I broke a fountain before!"

Now _that_ forced a reaction from Ney, which was prominently shown with her eyes widening in disbelief.

"...That's...very good then. Now redirect your eyes to this newspaper article, please."

* * *

**_"I'm not the other half. Stop saying that."  
_**_Riliane Lucifen d'Autriche, 14, student.  
INTRODUCTION #9_

_****__"This really isn't easy, but I'll try."__****__  
____Alexiel Lucifen d'Autriche, 14, student.  
_**[Heavenly Yard]___  
_**___INTRODUCTION #10_

"A letter for you, Uncle Presi!"

In the Lucifen Manor, the young lady of the house ran upstairs after receiving the mail from one of the maids. A petite thing she was, yet she ran as if her life depended on it. The familiar scrawl of Genesia's handwriting was set on the first envelope, addressed to none other than Presi Rogze himself. Another letter was in her hands as well, to which she slid under the door of her room quickly before making her way to the parlor.

"Uncle Presi," Riliane repeated, "there's a letter for you from Uncle Genesia!"

The man looked up from reading the paper, then visibly twitched. So Genesia was serious about the entire letter-sending thing, and he even wrote on the envelope instead of typing it out professionally like he normally did. Genesia's handwriting was actually quite neat...

"...for a fool," Presi murmured.

"Excuse me?" Riliane asked.

"No, not you. Sorry."

"What did he say, Uncle Presi?" the blonde-haired girl asked curiously.

The Prime Minister took his letter-opener, broke open the envelope and took the paper out. He could feel the marks of Genesia's handwriting, to which he mulled over how significantly exact it felt. Perfection. That was Genesia Tatou, and that was Presi Rogze's constant irritation.

The words, however, shocked him.

_'Dear Presi,'_ the letter said.

"Presi," Presi said.

_'I've arrived safely in Elphegort, but it's as horrible as I thought.'_

"Elphegort's great. I'm really having fun here, you asshole."

_'I can't stand this job. I want to come back, but I can't.'_

"I love this job, and I don't ever want to come back."

_'I'll write to you later, okay? Check Twitter often. From, Genesia.'_

"...From, Genesia."

Riliane arched an eyebrow, then sighed. "Guess he really doesn't like you, huh, Uncle Presi? When did you two start fighting anyways?"

Presi dryly laughed. "I don't know, Riliane. I can't remember. Where's Alexiel, by the way?"

"Right here. Brioche for Riliane, and eclairs for Uncle Presi?"

Riliane's brother, Alexiel was the splitting image of his sister, given that they were twins. They both had the same blonde hair, blue eyes and fairly short stature, and as soon as Alexiel walked in with snacks, Riliane jumped up excitedly as she ran up to her brother and took the plate of steaming hot brioche from his hands. With an amused smile, Alexiel sat down, then decided to take some of the snacks from both of them.

"...Not bad," Presi said, munching on an eclair.

* * *

**A/N:** oh god it took me a while woop

-Densetsu-no-Maguro.


	5. Number?

_**Condominiums**_

_a Ney Marlon and a Chartette Langley fanfiction._

* * *

_4: Number?_

* * *

Ney waited outside Chartette's door for an hour.

_One bloody hour_, she thought. _One bloody hour, wasting my time waiting in front of somebody else's door. The lift's been used by 3 people this morning. It's 8 am. Someone hasn't watered that plant at the lobby for 2 days._

The floor was that dull. Sure, it was a nicely constructed floor, with a lift that had its twin doors wiped every morning, simple potted bonsai trees on the teak side tables and tiles that most people would see in the Ministry of Finance, but it was dull. It spelled disinterest in Ney's mind. It was irritating. The top corridor was meant to be walked on and passed by, not to be a waiting room for an easily edgy woman.

"You know, I think it's getting colder outside," Ney called out into the intercom speaker of Chartette's unit. "Won't that make you hurry up?"

The verbal nudge was returned with the sounds of Chartette's footsteps, running to and fro, left and right. They finally got louder, loud enough that Ney could even hear the audio button being pushed hastily in order to answer her. "A few minutes, please? I wanna look good, Ney!"

"There's no need for that, Miss Langley," Ney irritably said, sucking in the intended level of irritation that she initially wanted to release. If Ney's patience wore out, she might walk out without a word, and how would Miss Langley feel? Then again, Ney was never one to consider people's feelings, much less consider how she herself feels about a few situations.

She did feel mighty impatient now, _that_ she knew.

"Professor TwiRight doesn't like to be kept waiting," Ney reminded her. "I'm going off now-"

At that very moment, Ney was greeted with an open door and an overly eager unofficial assistant.

"I'm ready, I'm ready!" Chartette blurted out, quickly closing the door as she swiped her card key for digital locks. In contrast to Ney's signature black coat, Chartette wore an immaculately white one. A coat that Chartette had saved for special occasions, Ney deduced. It was her first time wearing it, and she wondered whether Chartette actually spent a full hour thinking on whether she looked good in it or not.

What almost surprised Ney was the fact that Chartette was staring at her as if she had something on her face.

"...Do I have something on my face?" Ney asked.

"Do _I_ have something on my face?" Chartette asked.

It was then that Ney realized that she was staring at Chartette in the middle of thinking. She didn't avert her gaze, but she settled for saying her thoughts out loud instead.

"It's your first time wearing that, right?" Ney inquired.

Chartette blushed a little in embarrassment, then nodded. "Mmhm...Do I look okay? I bought it because it was on sale, and I thought-"

"You look good," the blonde responded, then walked to the lift and pressed the down button. "Warm enough?"

"Yes!"

"Goodness, this lift takes forever to come up," Ney groaned, kicking the lift doors lightly with a pointed boot. "Hurry up," she said to it, looking increasingly irritated as her brows furrowed together. She waited. She groaned again. She tapped her foot on the ground. She pressed the button again and again, and all the while, Chartette was observing her with much worry.

"...Um...Ney?" Chartette tried.

"What?"

"...I'm sorry if I was late," she said, feeling a heavy weight on her heart. It was like the feeling of betraying someone's trust, or maybe it was the fact that she made someone angry with her.

"You should be."

"I'm sorry I slowed you down! Maybe I should just go back-"

"It's no use even if I leave you here now," Ney answered, immensely grateful that the lift finally opened its pristine doors. She walked in, held the button that would keep the doors wide open and continued speaking from there. "I need you to come with me so that TwiRight can at least hold a conversation with me."

_TwiRight?_

"...We're going to see Professor _Seth_ TwiRight?!" Chartette instantly exclaimed, and before Ney could say a word, she found the other woman inside the lift in a flash, stars in her eyes. "Oh my god, Ney, you KNOW him?!"

"...Unfortunately," Ney groaned. "What an asshat."

* * *

**_"Can't you just agree with me for once?!"  
_**_Sir Seth TwiRight, 45, scientist._**_  
_**_INTRODUCTION #11_

Flying all the way to Marlon didn't really sit well with Seth TwiRight, especially when it was only for Miss Ney Marlon and not for important events. It was a wonder that he could still be alive and sane amidst his various unorthodox achievements; he has an artificial daughter who does anything and everything, he was knighted by the Queen of Levianta (who so happens to be the very person whom he hates with a burning passion, if she's being annoying) and to cut the long story short, he has a plethora of top-notch awards from leading science organizations, making him quite the popular man in town.

There was that one time when he found himself as one of the_ 'top 50 sexiest men in Volganio'_ through a magazine. He was ranked third.

Pulling out his phone in the taxi, Seth looked through his WhatsApp messages, pressing on a few just to briefly glance at responses. To be in touch with Queen Maria MoonLit via WhatsApp, Line, Skype and normal SMSes indeed was a feat for a normal person, but Seth had known the beautiful woman ever since they were children. Only one response from her was on their thread on WhatsApp; she had sent that to him when he was on the plane.

_[Maria]: Your brother's out from jail?_

Seth stared.

_[Seth]: I didn't know. Was it on the news?_

A response 10 seconds later.

_[Maria]: omg where were you? it's everywhere!_

_[Seth]: link to article? don't tell me it's because of good conduct..._

8 seconds.

_[Maria]: yup. here's the link._

Looking at the link that Maria had given him, Seth pressed on it, skimming through the details of his twin brother's release from prison. Pale Noel never tried to break out from prison, nor did he even put up fights while doing his time. Good conduct earned him an early release, producing a '_tsk!_' of irritation from Seth's part. Not good. Really not good. However, only one question repeated in Seth's high-functioning mind.

Why didn't he try to escape?

_[Seth]: thanks, on the way to see ney marlon now._

A pause, allowing another message to come through.

_[Maria]: ney marlon? prim marlon's estranged daughter?_

_Estranged_. What a word. Ney Marlon's just a brat who can't get along with other people properly.

_[Seth]: now now maria, let's be nice. haha._

He closed his eyes, knowing that he wouldn't get a response. He didn't hope for one; he knew her too well.

* * *

"_Lovely_ to see you, Sir TwiRight," Ney smiled a saccharine smile, extending a hand for him to shake.

Seth shook it stiffly, groaning at his luck. Of all people to meet, it had to be her, and he knew that he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Ney Marlon was efficient, if not eccentric in her work, but to him and to all who knew her, she's the best there is. The cafe that they were in did help ease atmospheric matters, but right before Seth could prepare himself for further dread, he took note of the other woman beside Ney.

"...And this is?" Seth asked.

"Miss Chartette Langley," Ney said. "My assistant."

He took some time to briefly scrutinize Ney's new acquaintance. Bright eyes, a bright personality and a look that he knew all too well. A fan. A _diehard_ fan. Chartette Langley was someone who apparently read science magazines, which was probably how she knew him from a glance. Jittery and excited, Chartette slowly outstretched a notepad towards the bespectacled man, to which he automatically registered the phrase that she was about to utter.

"C-Can I have your a-autograph...?"

"_Miss Langley_," Ney sternly said, to which Chartette instantly withdrew and took her place beside Ney again.

It was a pleasant surprise. Chartette's very presence made Seth at ease, rendering it easier for him to speak to Ney. If Ney had the gall to bring a friend, it would ultimately mean that Ney was slowly breaking away from that peculiar behavioral shell of hers, or not. Maybe it was one of her whims?

In any case, it made the atmosphere much lighter.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Chartette," Seth lightly laughed, then looked out at the falling snow. Beautiful as it was, there were more pressing matters to talk about, and while he didn't know of Pale's release before, Maria's messages made him realize the significance of this meeting. His twin brother was a dangerous man, and well worth the discussion.

"Please, have a seat. You're late. Very unlike you," Ney said, inviting Seth to sit across them. She drank some of her coffee, set it down and slid her phone on the table towards the scientist, right at her thread with Meta Salmhofer.

He looked it over.

"...Meta texted you and called you?"

"She did," Ney nodded. "Your brother-"

"The Queen told me," Seth said, looking rather distressed. "She told me on the plane. I only got to reply in the taxi."

At that, Chartette got up from her seat. "Y-You know the Queen of L-Levianta too?!"

"Oh for gods sake, Miss Langley, _sit down!_ You'll meet lots of other people later," Ney said irritably.

"I will? Really, Ney? Really? You're not lying, right?" the bookstore owner asked, clinging onto her arm. Seth could almost laugh at the sight; if anything else, it was refreshingly heartwarming and comical.

"No, I'm not. Drink your tea," Ney said in a leveled tone. "Back to where we were, Mr. TwiRight, I-"

The white iPhone let out its default ringtone, prompting Seth, Ney and Chartette to look at it. It was an unknown number; Ney quickly deduced it as someone calling from a telephone booth. She reached out a hand to answer, and once she tapped her screen, she proceeded to speak to the person at the other line.

"Hello?"

From the other line, a voice identical to the Professor's answered.

_'Would you like to play a game, Miss Marlon?'_

* * *

**A/N:** no pale i don't want to play a game i have a fic to finish,,,

-Densetsu-no-Maguro.


End file.
